“Frame by Frame” from the King Crimson album “Discipline”
Fripp Guitar Part (essentials)
Transcribed by Reginald Hunt

The song begins with Fripp playing a rapid 1/16-note riff repeated many times:

————-|
————-|
————-| then after 32 measures of 4/4 he shifts up to
—–4-6-4—|
-4-7——-7-|
————-|
—————|
—————|
—————| after 16 measures of 4/4 he shifts up to
——7-9-7—-|
-7-10——-10-|
—————|
————-| ————-|
————-| ————-|
—–5-7-5—| for 2 measures of 4/4 then —–6-8-6—| for 2 measures of 4/4.
-5-8——-8-| -6-9——-9-|
————-| ————-|
————-| ————-|

The next pattern (F# minor) is:

—————| —————|————-|
———2—–| ———2—–|———2—|
-2—4—–4—| for 2 times then -2—4—–4—|-2—4—–4-| for 7 times
—4—4—–4-| (if this is the 3rd —4—4—–4-|—4—4—–| then
—————| go round, make it 6 times) —————|————-|
—————| —————|————-|
—————|
———2—–|
-2—4—–4—| again for 5 times then
—4—4—–4-| (if this is the 3rd
—————| go round, jump to +++Coda+++ after 5 times)
—————|
—————-|—————-|—————-|—————-|
———4——|———4——|———4——|———4——|
-2—4——4—|-2—4——4—|-1—4——4—|-1—4——4—|
—3—3——3-|—3—3——3-|—3—3——3-|—3—3——3-|
—————-|—————-|—————-|—————-|
—————-|—————-|—————-|—————-|

( Tab from: http://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/k/king_crimson/frame_by_frame_tab_ver_3.html )
Note that Fripp plays the above 13/8 pattern against Belew’s 14/8 pattern giving an “echo”
effect that ceases after the 7 repeats.

The next pattern (A minor) is:

—————|
———5—–|
-5—7—–7—| for 8 times then
—7—7—–7-|
—————|
—————|
————8——|
——10———–|
-9—————–|
—10—-10—10—|
—————–0-|
——————-|
—————-|—————-|—————-|—————-|
———5——|———7——|———7——|———7——|
-5—7——7—|-5—7——7—|-4—7——7—|-4—7——7—|
—6—6——6-|—6—6——6-|—6—6——6-|—6—6——6-|
—————-|—————-|—————-|—————-|
—————-|—————-|—————-|—————-|

Now return to the beginning and play it all again (but play the first
rapid pattern only 16 times).

[++++++++++]+++Coda+++
[++++++++++]

—————|
———5—–|
-5—7—–7—| for 4 times then
—7—7—–7-|
—————|
—————|
————————————————-||
————————————————-||
—5-7-5—5-7-5—5-7-5—5-7-5—5-7-5—5-7-5-|| for 4 times
-7——-7——-7——-7——-7——-7——-||
————————————————-||
————————————————-||

Although I’ve seen Fripp play the last riff this way:

——————————————————–||
——————————————————–||
——————————————————–||
-7-10-12-10-7-10-12-10-7-10-12-10-7-10-12-10-7-10-12-10-||
——————————————————–||
——————————————————–||

This is just a nice acoustic version that you can play. Feel free to improv on the E
and add the seagulls when necessary 🙂

E (Riff)
Still, by the window pane,
E (Riff)
Pain, like the rain that’s falling.
She waits in the air,
E (Riff)
Matte Kudasai.
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America.

(Same Chords)
When, when was the night so long,
Long, like the notes I’m sending.
She waits in the air,
Matte Kudasai.
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America.

Throw in this riff when playing the E chord:

e|———————————————————————–|
B|———————————————————————–|
G|———————————————————————–|
D|———————————————————————–|
A|———————————————————————–|
E|-0h2h3h4—————————————————————|

“Elephant Talk” from the King Crimson album “Discipline”
Fripp Guitar Part
Transcribed by Reginald Hunt

This transcription is set in standard tuning. I find it works pretty well.
The arpeggios should be played staccato.
The “(__)” in the solo is meant to be a tie, indicating in this case
that the 2nd note is hammered.

After Tony Levin’s Stick intro, the Fripp part begins as:

(E minor Arpeggio)

———————————|
———————————|
-4—————4—————| repeated 8 times then
——-7—5———7—5——-|
—7—–7—7—–7—7—7—7-|
—–7———7————-7—|

distorted chords during “A” verse vocals:

-0—0———————–|
-7—7———————–|
-7—5———————–| repeated 4 times then
-0—0———————–|
—————————–|
—————————–|

(A minor Arpeggio)

———————————|
———————————|
-5—–4—2—–5—4—2——-| repeated 8 times then
—2—–2—2—–2—2—2—2-|
—–3———3————-3—|
———————————|

same distorted chords during “B” verse vocals:

-0—0———————–|
-7—7———————–|
-7—5———————–| repeated 4 times then
-0—0———————–|
—————————–|
—————————–|

(F# minor Arpeggio)

———————————|
-2—————2—————|
——-4—2———4—2——-| repeated 8 times then
—4—–4—4—–4—4—4—4-|
—–4———4————-4—|
———————————|

(A minor Arpeggio)

———————————|
———————————|
-5—–4—2—–5—4—2——-| repeated 8 times then
—2—–2—2—–2—2—2—2-|
—–3———3————-3—|
———————————|

same distorted chords during “C” verse vocals:

-0—0———————–|
-7—7———————–|
-7—5———————–| repeated 4 times then
-0—0———————–|
—————————–|
—————————–|

(F# minor Arpeggio)

———————————|
-2—————2—————|
——-4—2———4—2——-| repeated 8 times then
—4—–4—4—–4—4—4—4-|
—–4———4————-4—|
———————————|

The Roland Guitar Synth solo:

||–11———-9———|————9—–|————————|—————–9-|
||–9———9———–|———-9—–9-|-12-9——9–12——–|—————9—|
||-9——-9————-|——–9———|———9————–|————-9—–|
||———————–|——————|————————|——————-|
||————————|——————|————————|——————-|
||————————|——————|————————|——————-|

(1. )

————————|—————————–|————————|————||
——9–12———–9-|————4—————-|——————7—–|-5———-||
—9—————8—-|———4—————–4-|-6————–4——-|———–||
—————–9——|——6——————6-(___)————6———|———–||
————————|—————————–|————————|————||
————————|—————————–|————————|————||

(2. )

———————|—–9——————–||
—5–7———9—-|—9——-9————–||
-6——————-|-9——-9—————-|| (end of solo) then
_)——————-|——-9——————||
———————|————————–||
———————|————————–||

(A minor Arpeggio)

———————————|
———————————|
-5—–4—2—–5—4—2——-| repeated 8 times with the “D” verse then
—2—–2—2—–2—2—2—2-|
—–3———3————-3—|
———————————|

———————————|
———————————|
———————————| repeated 16 times under Belew’s solo
—–4——-4——————-| (Fripp does add slight embellishments) then
—4—4—4—4—————–|
-2——-2——-0—————|

(A minor Arpeggio)

———————————|
———————————|
-5—–4—2—–5—4—2——-| repeated 8 times then
—2—–2—2—–2—2—2—2-|
—–3———3————-3—|
———————————|

same distorted chords during “E” verse vocals:

-0—0———————–|
-7—7———————–|
-7—5———————–| repeated 4 times then
-0—0———————–|
—————————–|
—————————–|

(F# minor Arpeggio)

———————————|
-2—————2—————|
——-4—2———4—2——-| repeated 3 times then
—4—–4—4—–4—4—4—4-|
—–4———4————-4—|
———————————|

(F# minor Arpeggio)

—————–||
-2—————||
——-4—2—–||
—4—–4—4—||
—–4———–||
—————–||

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Subject: Tab

“Red” by Robert Fripp as heard on the album RED

This is an arrangement of RED. It is arranged here for
guitar and bass. On the album there is considerable
doubling of various lines to thicken it up.

This is the opening guitar melody.

---------------------------------15-17-19-------
--------------------13-15-17--19----------------
----------13-14--16-----------------------------
-13-15-16---------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------15-17-19-------
-----------------12-13-15-16--18----------------
-------12-14-15---------------------------------
-14-16------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------15-17-18-------
--------------------13-15-17--19----------------
----------13-14--16-----------------------------
-13-15-16---------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------

The bass for the opening is:

-8--11-10---8---12---11-12-14-16-16----
-9--12-10---10--14---------------14----
-9--12-12---11--15---------------------
---------------------------------0-0---
-7--7--10---9---7----7---11------------
-9--8--11---9---9----8---12------------
-10-8--11---7---10---8---12------------
---------------------------------------
-8--11-10---8---12---11-12-14-15-15----
-9--12-10---10--14---------------------
-9--12-12---11--15---------------------
---------------------------------0--0--

Main Verse Riff:

----------------------------------
-3-1-3-1-3-1-3--1--3b(4)r3--1-----
-3-1-3-1-3-1-3--1--3b(4)r3--1-----
------------------------------2---
----------------------------------
--------------------------------0-

This gets transposed to positions 1 step up and 1 1/2 steps up.

Fripp also plays at the end of the riff sometimes a “sick” sounding note
which is:

[(i)] [(ii)]

-0---------0-------------------
-3/5-------5b(6)---------------
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
-------------------------------

So the 1st verse is played if we call the main riff E , the transposed
riffs of 1 and 1 1/2 steps F# and G respectvely and including the “sick”
notes (i) and (ii) we get the sequence…

E E F# E (i) G G E (i) then 1st chorus
2nd time through it is….
E E (i) F# (ii) E (i) then 2nd chorus
The bass drones these notes as roots for this section playing octaves
for accents.

Chorus:

This is played twice:

guitar
free rhythm

-0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0---!-0--------------------------
-0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0---!-0--------------------------
-13-12-13-12-13-12-13-12--!-1--------------------------
-14-13-14-13-14-13-14-13--!-2--------------------------
--------------------------!----------------------------
--------------------------!-0--------------------------

--------------------------!-----------------7/(8)(7)--
--------------------------!---6/(7)(6)----------------
-7--6--7--6--7--6--7--6---!----------------------------
-0------------------------!-0-----------0-0------------

then

for the 1st chorus play these chords (free rhythm)

-0---!--0---!--10---!--10---------
-0---!--0---!--10---!--10---------
-4---!--4---!--12---!--12---------
-4---!--4---!--12---!--12---------
-----!------!-------!-------------
-----!------!-------!-------------

-----!------!-------!-------------
-----!------!-------!-------------
-2---!-5----!-5-----!--5-4-3--3---
-----!------!-------!-------------

note that these are just the position for fingers. the rhythms
are up to you. The last bar has that little descending riff
to the C which is played for that bar.

For the second chorus

-0---!--0---!--0----!--0----------
-0---!--0---!--0----!--0----------
-4---!--4---!--9----!--9----------
-4---!--4---!--9----!--9----------
-----!------!-------!-------------
-----!------!-------!-------------

-----!------!-------!-------------
-----!------!--4----!-4-2--2------
-2---!--0---!-------!-------------
-----!------!-------!-------------

The sort of Bridge section after this.

------------------!-----------------!-------------------
------------------!-----------------!-------------------
------------------!-3-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-!-6-4-6-4-6-4-6-4-6-
--2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-!-----------------!-------------------
------------------!-----------------!-------------------
------------------!-----------------!-------------------

------------------!-----------------!-------------------
------------------!-----------------!-7-----------------
-0----------------!-6---------------!-------------------
------------------!-----------------!-------------------

Middle Break

The chords for the middle break are:

Hit each as many times as indicated…

20X 32X 3X 5X 24X 16X 1X 1X

----!------!-----!------!-----!------!------!-0----
-3--!--3---!--2--!--2---!--5--!--3---!--3---!-3----
-3--!--3---!--0--!--1---!--4--!--4---!--4---!-4----
----!------!-----!------!-----!------!------!------
----!------!-----!------!-----!------!------!------
----!------!-----!------!-----!------!------!------

32X 3X 5X 24X 8X 2X 1X

------!-----!------!-----!------!------!-0----
--3---!--2--!--2---!--5--!--3---!--3---!-3----
--3---!--0--!--1---!--4--!--4---!--4---!-4----
------!-----!------!-----!------!------!------
------!-----!------!-----!------!------!------
------!-----!------!-----!------!------!------

The middle break has the baseline….

------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
-------1-0----------1-0--------4-4-2------------
-3-0-1-----1--3-0-1-----1--3-4-------0-0-3-4----
---------------------!--------------------------
---------------0-2---!--------------------0-2---
-4-2---2-0---2-------!--------1-0---------------
-----0-----0---------!--3-0-1-----1-3-0-1-------
------------------------------------------------
-3-3-5-----------------------0-2----------------
-------4-4-2---------4-2---2--------------------
-------------0-0-3-4-----0----------------------

Then for the rest of the song these various sections are played
oveer again. You can work that out from the recording. You will
have to work out the rhythms for the bass and the chords because
notating them here would be stupid to even attempt and not worth
the time.

I hope this is fairly arrangement is fairly understandable. If
anybody has any questions about the piece or any corrections (there
are bound to some) feel free to mail me at chuck@cs.unsw.oz.au

Mark Hawling